The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Hold-up capacitors are frequently used within power supplies to allow electronic systems to continue normal operation in the event of a temporary power loss. In order to manage hold-up energy, one approach is to use separate converters for charging and discharging the hold-up capacitor within the power supply. According to this approach, an input converter is responsible for receiving input energy from a power source and charging the hold-up capacitor. If the power source stops providing power, a separate output converter is responsible for discharging the hold-up capacitor to maintain operation to the electronic system.
In many cases, the input converter operates at a higher voltage level than the operational voltage level of the electronic system for which power is provided. The input converter may charge the hold-up capacitor more quickly at a higher voltage level, but additional circuitry may be required in the output converter to step-down the output voltage level as energy is discharged by the hold-up capacitor.
The two-converter approach is a simple and straightforward way to protect sensitive electronic systems against temporary power losses. Each converter is responsible for implementing different functions, increasing the modularity of the design. However, in order to perform their respective functions, each converter is implemented using different electronic components and layouts, consuming valuable space within the power supply and potentially increasing manufacturing costs.